


From Mother to Daughter

by DarkPhoenixGoddess10



Series: Richard and Anne: One-shots [21]
Category: The White Queen (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-18
Updated: 2015-02-18
Packaged: 2018-03-13 13:57:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3384152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkPhoenixGoddess10/pseuds/DarkPhoenixGoddess10
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anne was upset that her mother was not by her side when she had her baby. However, after she fell ill, it was her mother who saved her.</p><p>One shot sequel to "The Hunchback Duke of Gloucester".</p>
            </blockquote>





	From Mother to Daughter

In a sunny afternoon, Richard returned to Middleham. The dogs were unleashed and Gareth came to greet him. Behind Gareth came a boy and a girl. Seeing his children, Richard dismounted his horse and went to hug them. Katherine and Johnny were his illegitimate offsprings before his marriage to Anne. He was more than grateful when Anne informed him that she was taking them in.

His duties as Lord of North required him to be on the road more often he liked. Still, he promised Anne that he’d return for the birth of their first child.

“Lady Mother is upset,” Katherine whispered to her father.

“She’s scary,” Johnny added.

Taking his daughter by the hand, Richard entered the castle and went straight to Anne’s chamber.

There, Anne was arguing heatedly with her nanny Evelyn and the newly appointed nanny for her unborn child.

“I need to write!” Anne insisted. “I need to know!”

“Anne, please calm down,” Evenly comforted her.

“My confinement is soon,” Anne said, nervous as ever. “I need my mother. Where is she?”

Evelyn didn’t know what she could do to help Anne. Hopelessly, she turned and saw Richard with his daughter Katherine.

“Oh, my lord,” Evelyn quickly curtsied.

“What is it Anne?” Richard approached Anne, gesturing Evelyn to take Katherine away.

“My lady mother, she still hasn’t arrived!” Anne was nearly in the verge of tears. “I need her by my side when…”

“Anne,” Richard took her hands and rubbed them gently. “Your mother is on her way, I am sure of it.”

“Does she know that I’m expecting?” Anne asked, placing her hand on her huge belly.

“I wrote to her,” Richard said. “She knows.”

“She had abandoned me once,” Anne cried. “Now when I need her the most, she failed me again.”

“She’ll be here,” Richard assured her with confidence.

***

A litter stopped in the courtyard of the Middleham Castle. From the litter stepped out a tall middle-aged lady. She was surprised and saddened that no one came to receive her. Still, she was eager to see her daughter, who should be in confinement now. 

When she entered the castle, she found everyone amiss. Servants and ladies ran around like headless chickens.

“Where’s my daughter?” The Countess asked.

No one answered her; and the Countess easily guessed that something was happening to Anne.

“Where’s my daughter?” the Countess asked again, elevated her voice. The servants stopped and took noticed of their former mistress. Although she was no longer the mistress of the castle, the Countess stood proud and commanding; and she was still the mother of the current mistress, the Duchess of Gloucester.

A maid came forward and led the Countess to Anne’s bedchamber. “My lady, she is ill.”

The chamber door was opened, and the Countess found her daughter in a four-poster bed, pale as sheet. Richard was by her side, holding her hand and whispering prayers. Anne was couldn’t stop mumbling. Evelyn was by her side as well. Two physicians were also in the chamber.

The Countess rushed to Anne’s side, pushing Evelyn away.

She could hear Anne’s mumbling more clearly.

“I…I can’t die,” Anne murmured. “…not now…not yet…I have a son…he’s so small…He needs me…”

“Anne,” the Countess stroked her forehead, found her burning.

“My son needs me…and my husband…my mother…my mother…”

The Countess pulled Evelyn aside. “What is happening?” She demanded. “Tell me!”

Letting out a sigh, Evelyn muttered, “The baby came early. My lady Anne hadn’t even begun her lying in yet. The labor was difficult and it lasted for two days. The child, a boy, is healthy but small. My lady Anne is completely besotted by the little lord. She insisted on nursing the child herself and became inconsolable when the wet nurse took care of that. I tried to assure her that the child is hers and she will always be his mother. Since then she had chills and aches; I suggested her to rest. Then she came down with a fever. Thankfully, I don’t think it’s the childbed fever…”

“And my grandson?”

“He is well,” Evelyn replied.

The Countess went to Anne again. Though she was burning, her paleness was more likely to be derived from fear rather than fever.

“Bring the child,” she told Evelyn.

After Evelyn left the chamber, the Countess adjusted Anne’s pillow and gestured Richard to assist Anne sitting up. As Evelyn returned with Anne’s son, Ned, in her arms, the Countess ordered Richard and all the servants to leave the chamber. Seeing the Countess’ confidence in her doing, Richard left with the servants.

The Countess held the infant to Anne’s breast and the child began to suckle. Anne winced in pain.

“Shh, I’m here Anne,” the Countess stroked her daughter’s hair.

In a short moment, Anne’s features began to relax. The Countess had the child suckle on the other breast.

In a low but audible voice, the Countess told Evelyn, “You can dismiss the wet nurse, but pay her handsomely.”

She returned her attention to her daughter, who seemed to be relaxed completely.

***

Under her mother’s care, Anne recovered.

When she came to, she found her mother by her side.

Anne’s reaction was a mix of emotions. On one hand, she was more than happy to see her mother; but on the other hand, her mother failed her again since she had a long, difficult labor without her mother by here side.

She said nothing, and closed her eyes.

The Countess was hurt but understood what her daughter was going through.

Richard came in and the Countess left the two of them alone.

“How is our son?” Anne asked gently.

“He’s well,” Richard assured her.

Then Evelyn came in with her baby. “He’s hungry,” she informed Anne. “And he misses his mother.”

Anne was surprised when Evelyn placed the baby in her arms. Richard helped her sit up and placed a shawl over her shoulders as Anne nursed her son. After her baby stopped suckling, Evelyn instructed her, “You need to use the other one.”

“But it hurts,” Anne whispered.

“It helps, trust me,” Evelyn insisted gently.

Under the support of her nanny and her husband, Anne nursed her son with the other breast. It did hurt at first; but eventually she felt more relieved. After she finished nursing her baby, Evelyn took the child away to be burped.

“I feel so much better now,” Anne said to Richard.

Kissing her knuckles, Richard muttered, “You gave me a scare. I thought I’d lost you.”

“When did my mother came?” Anne asked.

“About a week ago,” Richard replied. “She was taking care of you.”

“Was she?” Anne was not too convinced. “She had left me behind with Lancaster in the battlefield. When I had Ned, I was so scared. But she wasn’t there either.”

“Our son did come early.”

“Why are you making excuses for her?” Anne demanded, hurt that Richard took her mother’s side.

“I am not,” Richard insisted. “I saw it. It was your mother who saved you.”

Anne was silent. She knew there was a story when Evelyn became supportive of her nursing Ned.

“Where is she now?” Anne asked. “Does she know?”

Anne was referring to the clause that George and Richard agreed upon—declaring the Countess “dead” and had her estate split between the two of them. Richard had told her and promised her that it was for the best and that the Countess will be treated well under his care.

“Maybe,” Richard replied.

“Will you join me in bed tonight?” Anne asked.

Richard gave her a nod.

Anne did not like the agreement between the York brothers; but there was a little she could do. She felt guilty, slightly. How could she criticize her mother for not being there for her while she hardly did anything to help her mother in this case? Although she pitied her mother, she did not have a say in this. The only thing she could do was to take her mother in.

Perhaps the Countess would’ve said the same thing regarding to the choice she made during the war.

***

After much deliberation, Anne went to see her mother.

She entered her antechamber and found her mother embroidering.

“Lady mother,” Anne muttered.

The Countess stopped and stood.

Anne nervously waited as the Countess turned to face her.

The two looked at each other for a moment and the Countess hesitantly began, “Anne…I was afraid and I hated myself for…”

Before she could finish, Anne went to her and embraced her.

“It’s in the past,” Anne said.

Whatever faults and misfortunes, they were still mother and daughter.

**Author's Note:**

> Anne's condition would be a mix of postpartum depression and mastitis (breast tissues became inflamed). The cause of mastitis may be milk staying in breasts or plugged milk ducts. Stress and being a first-time mother are also risks to mastitis. For Anne's case, Ned was her first pregnancy; she was stressed that her mother wasn't by her side; and she was nursing Ned at first but stopped at the wet nurse's insistence and thus had milk staying in the breast. To relieve mastitis is to keep the affected breast empty. From my perspective, the Countess knew how to handle this from personal experience - which meant she nursed Anne and Isabel against the protocols like how Anne insisted on taking care of her son Ned.
> 
> The Countess' relationship with Anne varies in different Ricardian novels. PG's version is the most extreme: in the novel KMD, the Countess literally abandoned Anne in the battlefield and left some nasty words before her departure. I thought it was kind of cheesy to a point (a mother this evil, really?). Come think of it, all PG's bad mothers are similar in a way: cold, cruel, nasty in a melodramatic way. Sharon Kay Penman's version is more balanced in comparison: Anne was unhappy that the Countess failed to stand up for her or be there for her and the two did have a confrontation about it but reconciled. In Penman's version, the Countess did what she thought was right and she did regret her actions. In Anne O'Brien's "Virgin Widow", the Countess' actions during the war were not depicted in a negative way; it was an arranged departure. Anne was even relieved after hearing her mother landed safely.
> 
> In this version, the Countess did what she thought was right. She may have hurt Anne but it didn't mean that she did not love her or care for her. As humans we all make mistakes.


End file.
